


Any Port in a Storm

by SunflowerSupreme



Series: Contract Verse (A/B/O) [5]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21926545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerSupreme/pseuds/SunflowerSupreme
Summary: The only thing they have in common is proximity to the sea.
Relationships: Maglor/Círdan
Series: Contract Verse (A/B/O) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1578079
Kudos: 38





	Any Port in a Storm

He hated Elrond for having talked him into accepting the Contract. He hated Cirdan for accepting it. He hated the Valar for having invented such a system.

But most of all, he hated himself for getting into the mess in the first place.

> _“It’s the first step toward redemption!” Elrond cried, hurrying over the sand after him. “If you convince the Valar of your honesty then perhaps-”_
> 
> _“Don’t say it-”_
> 
> _“They will allow you to return home!”_
> 
> _Maglor swallowed, turning his back on the well-meaning half-elf. “They would never allow that.”_
> 
> _“They’re clearly considering it for Maeglin, or else-”_
> 
> _“Maeglin’s never told them to go fuck themselves.”_
> 
> _“Neither have you.”_
> 
> _“Not in so many words.” He stopped, turning back to face Elrond. “Why do you believe they are considering it for Maeglin?”_
> 
> _“Glorfindel has his contract. The Valar adore Glorfindel, and they must know he would never leave Maeglin to suffer, so by giving his Contract to Glorfindel they must be at least considering-”_
> 
> _“That is a lot of assumptions.”_
> 
> _Elrond shrugged. “I’m good at making those.” He folded his arms over his chest. “And I’m usually right.”_
> 
> _Maglor hated to agree, but to disagree would be a lie. “Anyone who would accept a Contract with me would have a reason for doing so. I wouldn’t trust them.”_
> 
> _His foster son always had a trump card, grinning and saying, “Cirdan has offered.”_

He’d agreed to it in the end. With the caveat that he could continue to wander the shores near the Grey Havens. Cirdan had nodded when he’d made that demand, merely saying that the gates of the Havens had always been open to him, and that wasn’t going to change.

But it had, even if he hadn’t planned it out.

His wanderings were limited by needing to be close enough to return to Lindon when he felt the Heat coming on.

Cirdan, for his part, seemed mostly unaffected by the whole thing. His life certainly hadn’t changed, except for the rare occasion that Maglor would turn up, needy and demanding his attention. Other than that, he continued on as the Shipwright as though nothing had changed.

He had always seemed so annoyingly emotionless.

> _“Are you capable of emotion?” It was shortly after the first time they’d been together, and Maglor still wrapped in blankets, drinking tea and glowering as Cirdan flipped through diagrams, making notations as though nothing had happened._
> 
> _“I am.”_
> 
> _“I’ve never noticed.”_
> 
> _Cirdan flipped a page, frowning and scratching something out before saying, “You wear your heart on your sleeve and wonder why it so frequently breaks. I keep mine hidden, and find life far less weary for it.”_
> 
> _“I deserve no better.”_
> 
> _“You’ve told yourself that enough that you believe it.”_
> 
> _“Do you disagree?”_
> 
> _Cirdan hadn’t responded._

Maglor kept his visits to the city as infrequent as possible, and quickly learned all the hidden back alleys, able to slip in and out of Cirdan’s residence without ever being noticed. The Shipwright insisted he didn’t need to hide - “With a Contract, people will accept you,” he’d said - but Maglor insisted.

Just because they accepted him, didn’t mean he’d accepted himself.

So he kept his visits short and secretive, leaving just as quickly as he’d arrived, and spoke to no one except the Shipwright.

It made Elrond happy, gave him some sort of hope, and for that, he’d manage. If it also gave Maglor a measure of hope, he wouldn’t admit that to anyone, least of all himself.


End file.
